Sector movers: Crude prices, corporate deals push oil stocks higher

Brent crude prices were up a further 0.1% at $133.58 a barrel today, extending recent gains, as markets reacted to the latest geopolitical developments in Iraq. Islamist-led militants have attacked Iraq's biggest oil refinery in Baghdad with machine guns and mortars, according to reports.

Also pushing the price of oil higher was data from the American Petroleum Institute which showed that crude inventories in the US fell by 5.7m barrels in the week ended June 13th.

Oil major BP was in demand, rising 1%, after announcing a £12bn deal with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to supply up to 1.5m tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years, starting in 2019.

The deal is expected to be signed in London today as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets Prime Minister David Cameron on his three-day visit to Britain.

CNOOC also signed a global strategic alliance agreement with UK-listed Royal Dutch Shell, through which they will explore "co-operation opportunities". The news helped Shell's shares 1.7% higher this afternoon.

Investors were also reacting to yesterday's announcement by Shell that it is to raise around $5bn after tax through the sale of a hefty chunk of its stake in Australian energy group Woodside Petroleum.

Meanwhile, Shell also revealed plans to float its Midstream subsidiary on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.

Others in the sector such as Union Jack Oil, Range Resources, Victoria Oil & Gas and Xcite Energy were also performing well today.

Stock News is provided by Digital Look Corporate Solutions from Sharecast news.
Please read the terms and conditions of useage of this data. Republication or redistribution of content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Digital Look Ltd.

Get a free widget for your website with our latest headlines.

You can now add our live prices and new headlines to your website.The news widget features quotes for Oil prices, spot Gold price and Indices plus a choice of news channel for healines.